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DAY OF ATONEMENT - 1994
Fred Coulter - September 15, 1994
This day is a tremendous and awesome day, and pictures that in God’s plan,
God’s plan cannot be complete until the fulfillment of the Day of Atonement.
And we’re going to see that there were several fulfillment’s of the Day of
Atonement. We will see that, number one was for the children of Israel.
Number two is for the Church, and number three is for the world. And then
we’re going to also see that right at the end there is a final fulfillment
of the Day of Atonement because of what it pictures and what it means and
the principle character involved.
Now let’s go to Leviticus 23:26 because here’s the beginning of the
instructions for us for the Day of Atonement. And as you know, this is the
one and only single place in the entirety of the Bible where all of the holy
days are put together one right after the other. We have other places which
list three seasons. We have other places which lists Unleavened Bread, and
Pentecost, and Tabernacles, but nowhere do we have that it lists the
Sabbath, Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Wave Sheaf Offering
Day, the Day of Pentecost, the Day of Trumpets, and now we come to the Day
of Atonement, which is a most important, and as a matter of fact one of the
most critical feast days of God. And we are going to see the instructions
here given to us are very important and are different than any other feast
day.
Well let’s pick it up here in verse 26. “And the LORD spake unto Moses,
saying, Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an
holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls,…” Which we know
means no food and no water. That means afflict in fasting. So that’s why we
fast on this day, and it is a day of commanded fasting. “…And offer an
offering made by fire unto the LORD. And ye shall do no work in that same
day:...” This is a day in which no work can be done. And we’re going to see
that no work at all of any kind. Now on the other holy days we can do
whatever work is necessary for the preparation of food, for the observing of
the feast, and whatever. But we cannot do servile work, that is work for
which we are paid. So this one is different. It says, “…you shall do no work
in that day: for it is a day of atonement,…” Now atonement, as you
know, if you take the word and separate it out it is at-one-ment with God.
Also, atonement means “to cover for sin”, and in the Hebrew the day is
called Yom Kippor. And you could probably even find that on the calendar
that you have where it lists Yom Kippor. “…It is a day of atonement,
to make an atonement for you before the LORD your God” (Lev. 23:26-28).
Now we will see there are some very similar things with the Day of
Atonement that applies to the Passover. But let’s understand, the Passover
is for the church when the sacrifice of Christ is applied to us. Atonement
also has a special meaning for us in the church when we will be at-one with
God. But Atonement is the day in which God is going to apply the sacrifice
of Christ to the world. The sacrifice of Christ is not applied to the world
yet, and cannot be applied to the world until the Day of Atonement is
fulfilled.
“…To make an atonement for you before the LORD your God. For whatsoever
soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be
cut off from among his people” (vs. 29). So if you don’t fast then you’re
going to be cut off. That’s how important this day is. And not only are we
at-one with God, but there is a special significance in our fasting. And it
shows that we cannot live forever in the flesh. And the only way that we
will ever be at-one with God is to be as He is. And so anyone who will not
afflict himself, then is not admitting those basic facts of life. So God
shows it’s very important. He’ll be cut off from among his people. Well
that’s pretty serious stuff.
Verse 30, “And whatsoever soul it be that doeth any work in that
same day,…” Now we will see that it’s very important that this day is
clearly and specifically defined, which God does. He says it’s so important
that you do no work, or you’re going to be cut off. And any soul “…that
doeth any work in that same day, the same soul will I destroy…” So it
becomes very important for us to understand it. Now this is a double
Sabbath, with double instructions concerning no work, anyone who does any
work at all. So He’s covering both ends of it. No work. The question comes
up, what is work? “Anyone who does any work” covers the question that you
are not to do any of your work on that day, period! Now this is one of the
reasons why the Day of Atonement never comes before a regular weekly
Sabbath, or never follows a regular weekly Sabbath, because of this command
right here.
Now let’s continue on. “…The same soul will I destroy from among his
people. Ye shall do no manner of work:…” It means no work of any kind. “…It
shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings. It shall be a sabbath of rest,…” When it says a Sabbath of
rest, it is sabbaton-sabbaton, it is a double Sabbath of rest
for us, because we are afflicting our souls and God wants us to know that
everything there is in the world comes from Him. Our life, our breath, the
food we eat, the clothes we wear, everything that there is comes from God,
and He alone can give it. It also shows that salvation comes from God, and
it is spiritual, and He alone can give it. When we come to God in humbling
ourselves, what we’re really doing in humbling ourselves, it is not to beat
our flesh so we make ourselves humble, so we become acceptable to God
because of what we do. It is in total worship and adoration of God, and
acknowledgement that only He can make us at-one with Him, that only He can
give us the things we need to sustain physical life, that only He can give
us the things that will bring us eternal life and at-one-ment with God. And
as we will see later in the Feast of Tabernacles, that we will see God face
to face.
Now let’s continue on. “…And ye shall afflict your souls:…” It’s not an
option. It’s not if you want to fast and be good. No, you shall. It’s a
command. “…In the ninth day of the month at even, from even unto
even, shall ye celebrate your sabbath” (vs. 32). Now God is very specific.
He doesn’t want someone saying, “Well, I’m going to start fasting earlier in
the afternoon.” Now, God didn’t say do that. Another person is going to say,
“Well, I don’t have to start fasting until it’s dark.” Now you’ve got about
a six hour period between the middle of the afternoon and dark. So God is
very specific, and this also tells us about every other Sabbath. This also
tells us about when a day begins and when a day ends, very clearly.
Let’s read it again. “…In the ninth day of the month at even,…” The
Hebrew there is ba erev, which means “at sunset”. Now ba erev is the period of time from when the sun appears to touch the horizon, until
it’s gone below the horizon, of a period of about three to five minutes
maximum. So there is no leeway of time, except those few minutes. That is ba erev. And as we know from the Passover, once the sun goes below the
horizon, then that begins the new day. That, in this case, is the 10th of the seventh month and begins the period that is called ben ha arbayim,
or between the two evenings, or between sunset and dark. So God is very
specific in this because He does not want people fasting starting too early,
or fasting starting to late. He does not want someone quitting their work
too early, or stopping their work too late. He wants you to know that when
the sun hits the horizon that is the beginning of ba erev. When the
sun is below the horizon after those three to five minutes, that is the new
day, or the 10th day of the seventh month. And there is
tremendous significance for us in this. And we’re going to see that it has
an awful lot to do with the one called Satan the devil, because we truly
cannot have anything, any peace or harmony, or oneness with God as long as
Satan the devil is around.
You can see now in this world that there is no way that the world can ever
come to the knowledge of the truth. There is no way that the world can ever
be truthful as long as there is Satan the devil around. And the church
itself can never be perfected as long as Satan is there. Do you realize
that? So let’s understand something about Satan the devil. He is always
there in the important events. We’ll see that. We need to understand who
Satan the devil is first. We need to realize his activities so we know why
we can never be at-one with God until Satan the devil is removed.
Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 4. This tells us the status of Satan the devil.
Now after Adam and Eve sinned and rejected God, Satan became the god of this
world. And he is specifically called this in 2 Corinthians 4. And in verse 4
we find that he is called the god, theos of this world. So he is a
false god. But he is spiritual, and he is powerful. And we’re going to see
that Satan does a whole lot more than we give him credit for.
Now let’s pick it up here in 2 Corinthians 4:4. “In whom the god of this
world…” Now it’s talking about those who are blinded. We’re going to see a
little later that, yes Satan can take away. If you allow Satan to take it
away, he will take it away. But you have to give him permission. It has to
be your choice. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of
them which believe not,…” Now because Satan is still the god of this world,
because he is still ruling on this earth and God has not removed him, God
has used Satan to blind the world. That’s why God has to call each one of
us, because He has to remove the blindness, He has to call us, He has to
give us the understanding. And the world cannot be saved until Satan the
devil is removed. See, he’s the god of this world, number one. That’s pretty
profound.
Let’s go to 2 Corinthians 11 because we will see how he appears. Just like
to Eve, he comes up and he challenges, and he says, “Well, has God said you
can’t eat of every tree in the garden?” She said, “Oh no. We can freely eat
of every tree of the garden, but the tree that’s in the midst of the garden
we shall not eat of it or touch it lest we die.” And Satan says, “You shall
not surely die. For God knows that the day that you eat thereof your eyes
will be open.” The opening of the eyes, according to Satan is blinding their
eyes to God, but opening their eyes to sin. That’s exactly how he comes in
the church. And we’ve seen, how many times, he’s had his agents come into
the church who then begin speaking evil of the truth. But they do it so
nicely. They do it so logically. They do it so gently until they get their
hooks in.
Now let’s read it. 2 Corinthians 11:13. “For such are false
apostles,…” And believe me, wherever there are false apostles and false
prophets just like it says in 1 John 1, there are false spirits. Because, as
we will see, when Satan fell he took a third of the angels with him and they
became demons. And they are active, and they are working, and they are
wanting to come and destroy the church, and destroy the knowledge of the
truth, destroy the plan of God. Satan’s name is diabolos, which means
“the devil”, and Satan, which means “the adversary”. And how can you ever
have peace, how can you ever have one-ment when you have an adversary
between you and God? Cannot be. So therefore that’s why he wants to come
into the church. That’s why he wants to send his ministers, who appear as
apostles of knowledge and truth and understanding. And they’re not, they’re
just plain not.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,…” And they are.
They lie. They know they are lying. But they are “…transforming themselves
into the apostles of Christ.” And Christ never sent them. But they are
effective, and they are powerful, and they are spiritual. “And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:13-14).
He appears as an angel of light. But if that light is in you, how great is
the darkness that is in you, as we will see. “Therefore it is no
great thing [no wondrous or marvelous thing] if his ministers…” Now Satan
has ministers who come in the name of Christ, who come and preach another
gospel, who come and preach another doctrine. And one of the first things
that they attack and like to change is to change the nature of God. And
remember, and you’ll hear me say this time and time and time again, because
the adversary who said this meant it: when you change the nature of God, you
change all doctrine. Now that’s why you can’t have Satan the devil around.
He has his ministers.
It says, “Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of
righteousness;…” Now what does it mean, ministers of righteousness?
Ministers to give you the right standing before God, which is called
righteousness, coming bringing a wrong justification, which never justifies
you with God. How can you take something which will never justify you with
God and be justified to God, when God never intended that it be? Won’t
happen. That’s what Paul is saying here, very clearly. “…Whose end shall be
according to their works” (vs. 15). So Satan is the god of this world, he
appears as an angel of light, and he has ministers.
Now let’s go to Revelation 12:9 and we will see that here in this case, as
we’ve covered before, here is where Satan the devil is shown that when he
rebelled he took a third of the angels with him. Let’s pick it up in verse
3. “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns,…” See, the seven is a counterfeit
of God. That’s why he’s got seven heads and ten horns. “…And seven crowns
upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,…”
(Rev. 12:3-4). The stars of heaven being the angels of God. So it can even
affect the angels, right? How important is it to get rid of Satan then? How
important then is this Day of Atonement? If he can take a third of the
angels with him, and I’m sure he did it by placing himself between those
angels and God, and he told them, “Trust me.” And they had to choose to do
that. And when he drew them with him they fell to the earth and became the
demons. They are called his angels in Matthew 25:41.
Now let’s continue reading here. “…And did cast them to the earth: and the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour
her child as soon as it was born” (vs. 4). Coming right after Christ. Was
that not an important event? Yes. Satan was there at the creation. Satan was
there with Adam and Eve. Satan was there to cause the world to fall with the
flood. Satan was there at the tower of Babel. Satan was there to resist the
children of Israel when they were coming out of the land of Egypt. Satan was
there to resist David and Solomon. Satan was there to lead Jeroboam in all
of his hedonistic heathen Babylonian religion. Satan was there when Christ
was born. Satan was there to try and destroy Christ. Satan was there, as we
will see, at the temptation. Satan was there at the last Passover Jesus had.
And that’s why at the end, Satan is going to bring his grandest deception,
and it’s going to be awesome, and it’s going to be great because the most
important event is about ready to happen, the return of Jesus Christ.
“And she brought forth a man child, Who was to rule all nations with a rod
of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. And
the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore
days” (vs. 5-6). That’s already been fulfilled, and the church has been in
hiding and scattered more than once, and what we’re going through today is
just another one of those things that God is doing to protect and preserve
the truth, and to build His church up in the end run. Everything that is
happening, is happening for good, for those who love God and are called
according to His purpose. And God is going to expand His work, and God is
going to expand His church, and God is going to increase it by scattering it
and causing it to grow wherever He scatters it for those who are willing to
follow Him. Those who don’t want to follow Him, when it’s scattered, they’re
going to give up and quit, and they would have anyway. They will be tested
to see whether they love God or not. They’re going to be tested to see
whether they want to be at-one with God or not. So that’s why the church is
scattered.
Now, we have not come to this point yet, and this is the next major event.
“And there was war in heaven:…” And why was that war in heaven? To try and
forestall the return of Christ. To try and go back and take over God’s
throne again. “…Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the
dragon fought and his angels [the demons], and prevailed not; neither was
their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that
old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world:
he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him” (vs.
7-9). Now, Satan wants to deceive the whole world because the return of
Christ is imminent. Satan must be dealt with. He will.
Let’s go back to Luke 10. We will see where Jesus said He saw this event
happen. Before He became a human being He saw the fall of Satan and the
demons. Now this is when He sent out the seventy, two by two, and they
returned. Luke 10:17, “And the seventy returned again with joy, saying,
Lord, even the [demons] devils are subject unto us through Thy name.” Now
let’s understand one thing. That’s not because of them. If the demons are
subject to the name of Jesus Christ, that’s because of His name. That is not
because of who we are. We need to understand that. You can verify that by
reading Matthew 7 where Jesus said, “In that day many shall say to Me,
‘Lord, Lord, have we not cast out demons in Your name? Have we not done many
wonderful works in Your name?’” And He’ll say, “I never knew you.” You see,
it’s the name of Christ that does it. The person that does it cannot ascribe
any power to himself. So Jesus went on to make that point. “And He said unto
them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy:…” That’s given to us today, brethren. Satan is the enemy. Death is
the enemy. The demons are the enemies. All the false prophets are the enemy,
and He gives us power over all of those. “…And nothing shall by any means
hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not [don’t think that’s any big
thing], that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because
your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:17-20). Because that’s the only
way you’re going to be at-one with God.
Now let’s go to Isaiah 14 and see how this battle is going to come again.
It’s going to come again. There is a duality in many prophecies. Now all
prophecies are not dual. Many of them are. But when Satan rebelled and drew
a third part of the angels with him, and fell to the earth, cast back to the
earth, here’s what he said, verse 12. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O
Lucifer, son of the morning!” That’s why he appears as an angel of light.
And part of the doctrine of Masonry is that Lucifer is the true God. So you
know who they worship. “…How art thou cut down to the ground, which
didst weaken the nations!” Are not all of the nations weakened? Yes, through
sickness, through disease, through famine, through merchandising, through
wrong religion, wars, killing of each other, tribal hatred. You cannot have
peace, you cannot have one-ment with God until Satan is removed because of
what we’re going to read right here.
Always Satan is going to want to do this. Always Satan is going to try to
do this. “For thou hast said in thine heart [it was his own choice], I will
ascend into heaven,…” So this shows that they were on the earth originally,
because he was cast back to the earth. It show there in Jude that the angels
who kept not their habitation were given over to evil. He said, “…I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God [take over all the angels]: I will
sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north [go
right up to the throne of God and take it over]: I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (vs. 13-14). But you
see, he can’t be the most High. On earth, and among the demons, among the
principalities of the seven and the ten, and among the earth to them he is
like the most High because they’re blinded and deceived by the god of this
world.
“Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that
see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying,
Is this the [one] man…” Now it says “man” here because it’s referring to
the king of Babylon back there in verse 4, but, “…Is this the [one] man that
made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms…” (vs. 15-16), because
the final king of Babylon, as we saw for the Feast of Trumpets, as Babylon
was destroyed, he was destroyed. But Satan possesses the beast.
Now let’s go to Ezekiel 28 for just a minute because there are some
important things for us to understand here too. Now we’ve gone over these
things quite a few times, and many of you have heard it over and over again,
but I want you to know one thing that’s very clear. Many of the people that
have heard these things over and over again have capitulated to the power of
Satan of devil because they didn’t get it even though they heard it.
Now let’s pick it up here in verse 11. “Moreover the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the King of Tyrus
[who then was the beast after Babylon, you know], and say unto him, thus
saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in
beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;…” Now let’s take that
statement and understand that statement most clearly. There were four beings
in Eden the garden of God. God, Adam, Eve, and Satan. The garden of Eden was
cut off from man, and cherubim were put at the east entrance to the garden.
When the flood came it destroyed the garden, destroyed everything that was
there, and so the king of Tyrus could have not have, as a physical person in
the time frame in history that this is, have ever had been in the garden of
Eden. Complete impossibility. So this is talking about Satan the devil.
“…Every precious stone was thy covering,…” Well, let’s come on down
here, “…the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee
in the day that thou wast created” (Ezek. 28:11-13). Now, the king of Tyrus
was a man who was born. This one was created.
“Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth;…” No man is ever called
a cherub. No man ever became a cherub to cover the throne of God. “…And I
[God] have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou
hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was
found in thee” (vs. 14-15). And here is the prince of sin, here is the
author of sin, here is the one who is now deceiving the world with this
mechanism.
Verse 16. Is this how he corrupted the angels? By giving them more, and
more, and more, and more and locking them into a merchandising system to
where they were so dependent upon a merchandising system that they were no
longer dependent upon God. That they were willing to compromise any of the
truth of God, compromise any choice that they would make, believe any lie
that was given to them so that they could have the things that they would
receive by merchandising, like it is today? We’re going to see, brethren,
that the one world government, and the one world religion is going to be
established in merchandising. Merchandising of religion, and merchandising
of goods, putting us all in the society where we must buy and sell. Where we
must, in order to survive. That’s why this Day of Atonement is so important.
And I would just have to venture to say this: that I do not believe that a
person who does not keep the Day of Atonement will be able to resist the
mark of the beast, truly.
Well, let’s go on. “By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled
the midst of thee with violence, and thou has sinned [sounds like the world,
doesn’t it]: therefore I will cast thee as profane [no more a holy cherub,
now profane] out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering
cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up
because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy
brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings,
that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries [his religions,
his businesses] by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy
traffic; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it
shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the
sight of all them that behold thee” (vs. 16-18). That’s what’s going to
happen to the beast, and we’ll see that Satan the devil in the final
fulfillment of the Day of Atonement is put away forever, cast into the lake
of fire forever.
Now let’s go to Revelation 2 and let’s understand something else about
Satan. Satan is the god of this world. Satan has his angels. He appears as
an angel of light. He is a worker of deceit. He has his false prophets and
false ministers. Satan has a throne. Satan has a headquarters. Satan has a
place where he works. So it’s no great thing that the Vatican has been one
his headquarters, and that the whole one world global government thing, one
major branch of it was called the Club of Rome. You need to think on that.
Revelation 2:12, “And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These
things saith He with hath the sharp sword with two edges; I know thy works,
and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is:…” (Rev. 2:12-13). Now the word for seat is the
same as throne. Here there was a church right in the same city of Pergamos,
which was the capitol city of Satan the devil. And what happened? What
happened? They absorbed the doctrine of Baalam, the doctrine of the
Nicolaitanes, and they got so bad that Christ said, “Unless you repent I’m
going to take a sword and come after you.” So Satan is pretty powerful,
isn’t he? So he has a throne.
Now let’s go to Matthew 12 and we’re going to see that he has a kingdom.
And that kingdom right now is this world, as we will see. Now let’s pick it
up here in verse 22. “Then was brought unto Him one possessed with a devil
[or, demon],…” Whenever you see devil in the King James, it’s demon.
“…Blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both
spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son
of David?” (Matt. 12:22-23). So they knew. They understood that the Messiah
was coming at that time. This thing that the Jews did not reject Jesus is a
complete falsehood. They totally rejected Him, and they knowingly rejected
Him, and they did it with deliberation, and they did it with evil, and they
did it with vengeance, and they did it under the hand of Satan the devil.
“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils [demons],
but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils [demons].” Well, they right well
ought to know about that, because Jesus said that their father was Satan.
“And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided
against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided
against itself shall not stand:…” And that brethren, is why the biggest
church of God that we know of is falling apart, because many of you have
never realized within under the gloss and the veneer of all of the unity it
was divided. That’s why God is scattering it. There were warring factions in
there, and they’re still warring. They’re still fighting. And they haven’t
learned the lesson yet that the greatest thing that they need to understand
is, that they’ve got to love God with all their heart, and mind, and soul,
and being. And I’m going to tell you one thing for sure right here just as
clear as crystal. You’re never going to be at-one with God unless you love
Him that way. Because God is love. Now after the Feast of Tabernacles I’m
going to finish in the series of John, and I’m going to give a major
sub-series, “The Love of God In The Bible”. And we’re going to learn that
that is the key and the most important thing. And He goes on saying, “…Or
[a] house divided against itself shall not stand: and if Satan cast out
Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?”
(vs. 24-26). Satan has a kingdom. That’s why, brethren, Jesus said to
Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Because if it were, He would have
to co-exist with Satan. You think on that. And that isn’t going to happen.
Nothing is going to happen until Satan is removed.
Let’s got to Luke 4 and let’s see this tremendous time of trial and fasting
that Jesus went through. And let’s see the awesome power that Satan the
devil had to offer to Jesus, and why this was such an important thing. “And
Jesus being full of the Holy [Spirit] Ghost returned from Jordan, and was
led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the
devil. And in those days He did eat nothing [just like a type of Day of
Atonement only it was for 40 days]: and when they were ended, He afterward
hungered” (Luke 4:1-2). Now like us, some of us can hardly take one Day of
Atonement. Well, try 40 days. Now Moses was up on the mountain 40 days and
didn’t eat food and drink water. But just consider 40 days of this in the
flesh, not in the presence of God, but in the presence of Satan. Isn’t that
something. Forty days in the presence of Satan the devil to be weakened
after fasting, to be physical in your total weakness, so weak that He had to
have angels come and minister to Him when He was done.
So, afterwards He hungered. “And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the
Son of God,…” And they’re always going to challenge you. “If you’re a
Christian, why don’t you count these Sunday-keepers over here as
Christians?” Cause they aren’t keeping the commandments, that’s why. “…If
Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread” (vs. 3).
And could He have done it? Yes. Did Jesus have the power to do it? Yes.
Could He have chosen to do it? Yes. That’s why the temptation to see what
Christ would choose. That’s why. And it was not impossible for Jesus to have
sinned. It was improbable, but not impossible. And we will see exactly what
Christ’s answer was to Satan’s challenge in this particular way. And what
did Jesus rely upon?
Let’s see how Jesus endured this temptation of 40 days of Satan the devil,
after He was tempted to make the stone into bread. “And Jesus answered him,
saying, It is written,…” Now He didn’t say, “How dare you come and even
tempt Me. Don’t you know that it’s impossible for Me to sin? Don’t you know
that I am God in the flesh? How dare you have the presumption to come and
even dare to tempt me.” No, because Jesus was a human being. Yes, He was the
Son of God, but He also had human nature and He could be tempted. So this is
why He answered the way that He did. “…It is written,…” And that’s the way
we need to answer, brethren.
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